


Wild Flowers and Stray Thoughts

by Sociopathic_Otter



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Based on Songs, Hurt Tony Stark, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Marvel - Freeform, Night Terrors, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Proof that Tony Stark has a heart, Supreme Family, Tears, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, ironstrange for the soul, marvel trash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 07:17:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19080154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sociopathic_Otter/pseuds/Sociopathic_Otter
Summary: Stephen has gone, Tony is utterly lost.





	Wild Flowers and Stray Thoughts

**Author's Note:**

> I think this ship really blew up after infinity war, especially since they're played by our two Sherlocks.  
> I've loved this duo since i bought my first comic that had them working together and infinity war just gave me the biggest satisfaction for my two boys.  
> But, either way, let's get on with the story.  
> \- S.O

[This story was inspired by the song  _Compass_ by  _Zella Day_ so feel free to listen to it whilst you read.] 

 

 

It was like a musky scent just hung on the air of the faint mist. Picture perfect as the short brunet sat between the clusters of flowers that were wilting just taking in the silent scene of the empty field space. The days had been dark since the accident and there was no way Stark could even remotely think straight. It felt so isolated. He felt so isolated.  
So cold.

It was autumn. Flowers had been dropping their bright petals to replace them with bleak ones or none at all and trees had been losing their red and orange leaves that ended up covering the ground's imperfections. Tony wish he had those powers.  
To hide his chips and cracks.

Slowly, Stark rose to his feet and dragged them along the dying,yellowing grass as he walked. His fingers just danced against the tall plants from the field he was roaming. He had no idea where he was or how he got there. That was a habit now.  
Getting lost and not understanding.

He didn't have a leader or a guidance anymore. He wasn't even sure if he'd make it out alive by the end of it. So much self doubt.  
Now he was weak.

Carefully, Tony picked up one of the few wild flowers that had survived his lazy idle steps. He looked down at the small teal petals, his fingertips grazing the wrinkled texture. The colour was just like those damn eyes he fell for long ago. It laid between his palm before he curled his hand into a tight vice, crushing down upon the natural life as a heavy sensation took to pressing against his chest. It was so easy to diminish beauty and life, how had he not seen it before?  
How it can be crushed so easily.

Closing his eyes as clouds up above took to lining the streaky sky with their own bleak colours. His fist slowly opening again and dropping the crinkled petals to the floor. They fluttered in the barely there breeze, slowly sinking to the ground and laying there. Waiting to be whisked away.  
And Tony did the same, waiting to be whisked away by those scarred hands he held so many times before.

As his knees pressed against the dry ground he'd been walking on for countless hours, Tony inhaled deeply before opening his eyes once again. His vision was blurred with sharp tears that seemed like horrible needles.

Harshly he blinked them away and guided his trembling hands to the other flowers gathered around him.

They looked so pristine; a detail the billionaire would've and had overlooked so many times. The uniqueness of other entities than himself. The sinking feeling that realization brought.  
The numbing feeling the cold brought.

Tony crafted with his hands a neat little flower-crown. Stems and small leaves wrapping around one another in imperfect ways to create a thing of beauty. Woven in memories and love with red, orange and those teal flowers that stuck out among the other wilting wild flowers.

The oddly gracious green stems and leaves were just another reminder of what was missing. The way they intertwined gave him so many memories.  
Like the damaged hands of his beloved.

Concealing darkness around once again Tony's eyes shut as he brought the crown to his head. He placed it on his damp hair, and sighed. It was like a relief. The weight lifting off his chest and changing.  
Changing into arms and pulling him into an embrace to warm him. Make him feel less cold and isolated.

A light smile appeared on Tony's face as those arms kept him safe. Concealing him from the problems for now. Helping him hide those cracks and chips or maybe even fill them.

More tears fell as the touch he longed for was ghosting around him. The intricate details on the hands were vivid before Tony's watering eyes. As were the details of the face. Something he wished he had done each day without taking it for granted.

And yet, despite all of this. The figure still wanted to bring him home. And that's not where Tony wanted to go. He longed for the real thing. The real touch. The real face. The only way to get there was to get up to the streaky sky.

In his hand was another crown. White flowers and darker stems, like the ones he'd laid at the gravestone a day previous. It looked grand but Tony wouldn't have accepted anything less as it was for his king. That's the only place he wanted to be. With his Strange, loving King.

Slowly Tony opened his eyes and glanced around his lab. His dark, musky lab. He sat up and back in his chair, clinging to the blanket over his shoulders that were a good enough replacement for an embrace. As he lifted his head, a small flower fell from it. The same teal colour from his dream.

The genius looked up and around puzzled. His brown eyes settled upon the framed image of him and Stephen on their first date. The picture was warming and had been one of the very few things Tony had allowed to be near him during these hard times. And yet, on the frame he found two more wild flowers taped there.

A white one and a red one. His heart ached as he saw the note beside written in golden, almost mystical calligraphy.

[ _You don't need to join me. Stay strong. I'm always with you._

_Forever and always..._  
_-Steph x]_


End file.
